toxoplasmosis is a worldwide infection which is commonly asymptomatic but can cause serious medical problems in immunocompromised individuals and fetus. the infection also causes considerable economic loss because of abortion in livestock, mostly in sheep and goats. dna vaccination may be a powerful approach against intracellular parasites such as toxoplasma gondii. the goal of this study was t...

Following invasion into the host cell, the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii secretes a variety of proteins that modify the parasitophorous vacuole. Within the vacuole, the 28-kDa dense granule protein known as GRA2 is specifically targeted to the tubulovesicular network which forms connections with the vacuolar membrane. To investigate the importance of GRA2, we derived from strain RH a mutant T. go...

Background We have previously reported that immunization with GRA2 antigen of Toxoplasma gondii induces protective immunity in CBA/J (H2k) and BALB/c mice (H2d). We aimed to examine whether immunization of a distinct strain of rodent with recombinant dense granule antigens (GRA2) combined with monophosphorryl lipid A (MPL) adjuvant elicits protective immune response against T. gondii. Methods...

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide infection which is commonly asymptomatic but can cause serious medical problems in immunocompromised individuals and fetus. The infection also causes considerable economic loss because of abortion in livestock, mostly in sheep and goats. DNA vaccination may be a powerful approach against intracellular parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii. The goal of this study was t...

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan parasite with a broad host range of most warm-blooded mammals including humans, of which one-thirds of the human population has been infected worldwide which can cause congenital defects, abortion, and neonatal complications. Here, we developed a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for T. gondii infection. Antigenic N-terminal half of the major surface antigen (SAG1...

The Toxoplasma gondii protein GRA2 is secreted into the parasite-containing vacuole where it is rapidly and specifically targeted to a network of membranous tubules that connect with the vacuolar membrane. To examine the molecular basis of this association, we expressed an HA9 epitope-tagged form of GRA2 by stable transformation of Toxoplasma. GRA2-HA9 was correctly packaged inside the dense gr...

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis distributed all over the world, which the etiologic agent is an intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. This disease may cause abortions and severe diseases in many warm-blood hosts, including humans, particularly the immunocompromised patients. The parasite specialized secretory organelles, as micronemes, rhoptries and dense granules, are critical for t...

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii infection is essential in pregnant women and immunosuppressed patients. Numerous studies have shown that the recombinant production of several Toxoplasma antigens, including dense granule antigens (GRAs) has high potential as diagnostic reagents. In the present study, we produced GRA2 using Pichia pastoris system. RNA of T. gondii RH strain tachyzoite was used as ...

A goal of the current study was to evaluate serological applications of Toxoplasma gondii GRA2 and rhoptry protein 1 (ROP1) antigens. Soluble recombinant GRA2 and ROP1 antigens as fusion proteins containing six histidyl residues at the N and C terminals were obtained using an Escherichia coli expression system. Purification by one-step metal affinity chromatography allowed recovery of milligram...

Toxoplasmosis is a foodborne disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular parasite. Severe symptoms occur in the immunocompromised patients and pregnant women leading to fatality and abortions respectively. Vaccination development is essential to control the disease. The T. gondii dense granule antigen 2 and 5 (GRA2 and GRA5) have been targeted in this study because these prot...